Senators give district, appellate judges pay raise - first in years

The Senate's passage late Tuesday night of a judicial pay increase puts the state's district and appellate judges a governor's signature away from their first pay increase in seven years.

The legislation's backers tout the measure as a long overdue salary adjustment for the state's judges - who now earn less than some first-year attorneys.

Under House Bill 11, which was approved in the House late last month, district judges would see their state-funded salaries jump by nearly 24 percent, from $101,000 to $125,000 per year.

Salaries for appellate judges would increase to $145,000 while Texas Supreme Court judges would see their pay increase to $150,000. The presiding judge of an appellate court would earn $5,000 more than the associate justices.

The pay raises would be funded by a $4 increase in court costs on convictions other than a pedestrian or parking offense and a $37 increase in the cost of filing a civil suit.

For the past two or three years, the law clerks working for District Judge J. Blair Cherry Jr. have interviewed for positions that start at the same pay level as what the judge would make under the proposed law.

"That's just a little bit out of whack," he said.

Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, has been an active supporter of the measure, authoring a bill on the topic in the regular legislative session.

On Tuesday, he said the pay raise is needed immediately to stem an exodus of judges from the bench.

"We're concerned we're going to lose some of that talent," he said.

Judges realize that they are never going to make what they could command in the private sector, "but it's hard to look your family in the eye when you're making 30 to 40 percent of what you could be earning," Cherry said.

"The honor (of being a judge) doesn't pay college tuition," he said.

Versions of a judicial pay raise have been introduced in every legislative session this year. The bill's critics have focused on the linkage of state lawmakers' pensions to a district judge's salary.

In effect, by voting a pay increase for the state's judges, legislators voted themselves a hefty increase in their own retirement pay.

If he were to retire right now, Duncan's monthly retirement annuity, for instance, would jump from roughly $2,323 to $2,875 under the bill. The actual amount of the annuity depends on actuarial measures such as the lawmaker's length of service, his age and decisions on how the annuity is distributed.

Duncan tried various solutions, including tying judges' salaries to the governor's salary or to state revenue growth.

He never could find legislative support for any of the alternatives, he said.

Of the brouhaha that erupted over the higher pension payouts, Duncan said, "It's unfortunate that judges have been caught in the crossfire."

A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry said that he would review the legislation and then decide whether to sign, veto or allow the bill to go into effect without his signature.

Duncan was also able to win passage Tuesday night in the Senate on a bill to consolidate authority over radioactive waste storage and disposal with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

In addition, the bill would establish a fee on the disposal of radioactive waste in Texas, which represents "not an insignificant revenue stream for the state," he said.

Currently, some categories of radioactive waste are overseen by the Texas Department of State Health Services, which was chided by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission earlier this year for staffing deficits that caused a "downward performance trend in materials inspections and incident and allegation investigations."

Perry, however, has not authorized legislation on radioactive waste this special session. If the governor does not authorize the topic, Duncan's bill cannot be signed into law.

The senator has been in contact with the governor's staff on adding radioactive waste to the session, which runs through Aug. 19. However, Perry's spokeswoman said Tuesday that the governor would prefer to see lawmakers deal first with school finance.